4Small treat for you all. Have a read if you want and tell me what you think. Word of warning. Don't read if you have not at least watched the stuff related to the Face of Boe or the 50th Special with the following Christmas Special. You'll ruin the episodes otherwise with spoilers.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who which is a shame. At least I can watch it on TV which is better than just in my head.
The Last Words
The Last Words
The Face of Boe could do nothing but lay there on the ground. How long had it been since he had breathed in the fresh air? How long had he been in that tank for? The same tank that now was shattered around him.
He was dying. He didn't need Hame to tell him that. She had been a good companion over the past thirty years. He was old now. Very old, and all his children were long since gone. He truly was the last like him left in existence.
Living so long, never died yet constantly ageing, he liked to believe he could understand the Doctor a bit better now. After so long, the universe just seemed to become boring when you were alone. That was why he wished he could thank Hame for her company over the years. It made his endless life a bit more bearable in the end.
Sometimes he wondered how the Doctor could do it, especially this Doctor standing in front of him. He remembered his travels fondly, when he had been known as a man called Jack Harkness. And that man, the Doctor, travelling the stars through time and space for years and years and never stopping. And even when he or whoever was with him went to asleep, the Doctor never stopped. He had never needed much sleep, and that meant he passed the time going to anywhere else.
Right now he was older than this Doctor, and yet he knew that both this Doctor and all others knew how to cope with the loneliness. Unlike himself the Doctor still tried to take companions with him, no matter how dangerous he knew it was and the risks they might experience. Some might call it dangerous and mad, but to him it was only the cry of a lonely god, walking through time alone and pulling people with him so the path didn't seem so endless anymore.
Everything had its time in the end. The Doctor's would not come for a long time, and this face of his would not be his last. He would change and change and change, and yet would always be that same man, taking people with him to stop feeling so alone.
Right now though, this Doctor was one of those that felt alone. He had felt the same feeling when he had met those last two versions of him, once above the Earth as it burned and the other years ago here on New Earth. This was a Doctor who knew not of what he would eventually do.
Oh how he wanted to tell him directly. But rules had to be obeyed. He still remembered that day so many many years ago when the Doctor came to see him, happier than he had ever been in his entire life while wearing that ridiculous bow tie with a companion he didn't know by his side. And he didn't say much, just dragged him out on a few adventures for what he called 'old times' sake'. The smile the man had back then, the very aura around the man was of one so cheerful it was blinding.
And only later, when the Time Lords returned, did he realise what the Doctor had been so happy that day.
He couldn't say that right now. Doing so could mess everything up. Besides, he knew what his last message had to be. He had to warn the Doctor about the Master and that he would soon have to face him. It had taken a long time to figure out what he would eventually have to tell the Doctor but he learned it. But, looking at the man and seeing his pain at being the last of his species, at being alone, it made him pause.
Because in the end, why did he have to make his last words be a warning. If they could be taken as that it would help, but this was his oldest and dearest friend in front of him, a friend desperate for help but would never ask.
Over the years it would all change for this man. His legend would only grow and his adventures become more and more spectacular. And so, if he had to die, then he would at least help the version of that Doctor when he was too stuck in regret.
"You are not alone."
Those would be the last words he would ever say. But he didn't say them as a warning. They would be hope for the future. No matter what happened, no matter how it looked now, the Doctor would learn eventually. He wouldn't be alone. He wouldn't be the last of his kind. And even till then, he had people by his side, to look after him and keep him company. So long as people stayed by the Doctor's side, he was sure the man would stop feeling so alone.
His eyes slowly closed as the eternity he had been forced to live for long ago finally ended. He could rest in peace, more so than ever. As long as the Doctor had hope to guide him to that better place, that was all he needed now.
It was time to finally sleep.
The Last Words
I just decided to do this randomly. A small oneshot out there because this idea came to me and wouldn't leave. I know the Face of Boe's message wasn't planned for future stuff but I felt it fit together nicely. The last words were "You are not alone" and now the Time Lords will eventually be able to return. He is no longer the last of his kind. He will not be alone. And the Face of Boe, being Jack, would likely want to give his old friend hope for that day since this was the Doctor who regrets, 11th being the one who forgets.
Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.